This morning, outside the Centre Alima I saw Tom Martin, a Luxembourgish homeless friend.
“Hey American in Luxembourg,” he says to me. “You wanna hear a story?”
“Of course,” I say.
Here’s Tom’s story, in his own words:

“This morning, I’m walking around barefoot and I see the prime minister (Xavier Bettel) and he asks me, ‘Where are your shoes, Tom?’ He knows me by name because I’m a nice guy and I don’t cause trouble out here.
“So I tell him someone stole my shoes last night and he says, ‘Come on, let’s get you some shoes.’ So we go to H & M— the prime minister and me — and he buys me these shoes! (A pair of brand-new blue sneakers that had Tom grinning from ear to ear.)

“A 50-year-old man told a court he was “bribed” with the offer of home cooked bacon and cabbage to go to his mother’s house and cut the back lawn. He insisted he ate the meal on the porch and believed he did not breach an order not to enter her home.”

“Donal Cosgrave of West End, Rathmore, Co Kerry, was arrested for breach of contravening a barring order on July 1st. Mr Cosgrave was willing to produce the shoes with the grass still on them, to back-up his story, Killarney District Court was told on Tuesday.”

“Mr Cosgrave said he only called to his mother’s home at Woodlawn Estate, Killarney because she offered to cook him bacon and cabbage if he cut the grass. In effect it amounted to a bribe because no-one could resist his mother’s cooking, he said.”

“Padraig O’Connell, solicitor, told the court the shoes were in an evidence bag, in court.”